Favorite Thing #3: Dinner Parties

As stated on one of my favorite blogs, "Stuff White People Like" (check it out, its hilarious), white people love dinner parties. Dinner parties provide excellent opportunity to:




1: Show how much of a better dresser you are than your friends. You will receive numerous compliments on how nice you look. In addition, by putting on a dress or a fancy bow tie and jacket - you are telling the host that their little get together was important to you. Hosts always appreciate this behavior


2: Impress people by cooking something simple, yet making it taste hard. Desserts are a good way to show your cooking prowess without going through a lot of effort. Try making molten lava cakes. From start to finish, they take 20 minutes, but your guests will think you are a master pastry chef. You can then tell them "its nothing" but secretly take pleasure in all of their compliments. I personally like Giada De Laurentis's recipe the best:


1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted softened butter, plus extra for buttering molds
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
4 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
2/3 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting molds
3 tablespoons Frangelico or hazelnut liquer
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup fresh strawberries
Fresh mint, for garnish

Butter and lightly flour 6 (6-ounce) ramekins. Tap out any excess flour.
In a small saucepan, bring to a boil 2 inches of water. In a large glass bowl, add butter, chocolate and espresso powder. Lower heat and place bowl over the simmering water. Slowly whisk mixture until the chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove bowl from heat and continue to whisk until all chocolate has melted. Allow to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, add eggs, yolks, and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy and pale in color. Reduce speed to medium-low and slowly pour in the chocolate mixture. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Do not overwork the batter. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Divide the batter between the molds. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place chocolate molds onto baking sheet and place in oven for 7 minutes. If not baking immediately, cover chocolate molds with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 8 hours. When ready to bake, place refrigerated chocolate molds onto baking sheet and place in oven for 10 minutes. The top and sides should be cooked and dry and the inside will be runny.
Using oven mitts, carefully invert each mold onto a plate and let it sit for 10 seconds. Then lift 1 corner of the ramekin and the cake should slip out. Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon Frangelico over each cake. Spoon berries around the chocolate cake and garnish with mint. Serve warm.

3: Show off your taste in wine by bringing something not too common. Its best to bring something that you alone have tasted so you can feel special when other people delight in your choice. Alternatly, bring a wine that may not be too common. Perhaps something you used to drink at a restaurant you worked at, or a wine you tasted at a wine tasting. You must also take pictures of you and your guests enjoying wine because it makes you look classy and grown up.

4: Finally, you must make sure you play games (guitar hero always works) and come up with enough inside jokes that people who were not invited feel left out of all the fun, and people who were invited feel special for being in on all the fun. It helps if you can document your fun for posterity, and also if your inside jokes can be long running jokes that span several weeks/months time.